Mainstream reviews-why so few?

Seandtaylor99, I completely misunderstood you. I thought we were talking about manufacturer specs only. I agree with you that some reviews with detailed measurements would be nice.

like PEOPLE and ROLLING STONE, the art of selling magazines and being profitible is always about advertising and what sells more magazines(who or what is on the cover). LISTENER may have been the last attempt to have a magazine directed at the 'hobby' we have. For the the most part SF and AS are just ADVERTISING either in the traditional sense, or the written word. all products range between good to great...all are exceptable in terms of value....and all that end production are forgotten and replaced with more current models...those with an advertising and marketing budget.

I thought for years that high-end audio as a hobby was dieing a slow, painful death. I entered the hobby 28 years ago working at a place called Standard Sales, where they had what was considered a “high-end” audio room. I was a kid working in the warehouse, helping the guys move some equipment around the room, when a customer brought in an album; Stanley Clarke’s School Days. Never heard of Stanley Clarke, and never heard of ESS, but when they played that album through the ESS AMT-1B’s, my face fell to the floor, and I was hooked.

Years later I had put together one wicked system: Altec Model 19’s, SAE 400wpc amp, Crown pre-amp, Soundcraftsman EQ, Mitsubishi turntable (the killer vertical model), Teac reel-to-reel, etc., etc. What an amazing system it was. Then I subscribed to Stereophile, and got pulled in further, but farther away. I started reading the “glowing” reviews, and ultimately sold off all of my equipment so I could “upgrade,” blinded by a passion for the hobby, while ignoring that every component reviewed was audio nirvana. I was mesmerized by words like “immediacy,” “palpable,” “airy,” and “fast.” Well, after spending thousands of dollars on enough speakers, amplifiers, turntables, etc. to start a store, I left the hobby disgusted, because I was unable to recreate the magic of my original system without spending $80K (I bought a house instead).

I personally think this “review” process is an attempt to keep folks engaged in the hobby, while justifying the current astronomical prices for equipment. As many of you know, I recently reentered the hobby after a 15 year hiatus, driven by a business need, which prompted me to sell my loudspeakers to get the “latest and greatest.” Reading the commercial reviews, I still see that there is no such thing as a “bad” review. Everything is still audio nirvana, $10K/pair speakers still “compete with models twice their price (isn’t that nice that I only have to spend $10K, and not $20K?),” and 40” floor-standing, two-way speakers, with a 6.5” woofer and 1” tweeter, still have a “palpable” midrange, all for the bargain price of $18K per pair. Good grief…………

jeez seadweller.....well spoken, and true.

Some manufacturers don't want their products reviewed and don't provide samples to reviewers.